


Hot Dogs and Dreams

by kawaiinokyojin



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Gen, Hot Dog Contest, There are gonna be a lot more characters later I swear, There might be romance later if you squint idk bruh, Undertale Spoilers
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-12-23
Updated: 2015-12-23
Packaged: 2018-05-08 13:12:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,166
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5498291
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kawaiinokyojin/pseuds/kawaiinokyojin
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>29 hot dogs and 3 rejections of more later, Frisk is proven the best in the Underground at stacking things on their head. But will they keep their title when new challengers approach?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. DETERMINATION.

"Sorry, thirty is the limit on head-dogs."  
Frisk whined as Sans crossed his arms in defiance.  
_"Sorry, thirty is the limit on head-dogs,"_ he repeated.  
Sighing, Frisk sat down, accepting their defeat. Sans had given the human more of their fair share of hot dogs on the house anyway, so it was only fair to see things from his perspective.  
"But really, who could blame you?" Sans continued. "Being so close to 30, it's so maddening to not sit just one more hot dog on your head." The skeleton sighed. "You're just like my brother."  
"HUMAN!" The fallen child twitched, nearly knocking all of the hot-dogs off of their head. The skeleton also nearly jumped out of his non-existent skin.  
"HUMAN!" Papyrus called again. "I have come to - " The other skeleton interrupted himself. "Why do you have so many hot dogs on your head?"  
Frisk pointed back to Sans.  
"Don't look at me." Sans began to explain, his hands up. "The human didn't have enough room in their inventory for the massive amount of hot dogs they wanted, so I put all of them on their head."  
Frisk shot Sans a glare.  
"Well, almost all of the ones they wanted."  
Papyrus was about to speak again, but he simply gasped as he came up with an idea.  
"What's up, bro?" Sans asked, noticing his brother's sudden gasp.  
"I HAVE THE BEST IDEA!" Papyrus yelled triumphantly. He pointed his gloved hand into the human's face. "If I shall not beat you by puzzles or fights, then I will beat you at your own game!" Frisk tilted their head inquisitively. "Human, I CHALLENGE YOU TO A HOT DOG HEAD-STACKING CONTEST!"  
Though Sans was cracking up in the background, Frisk simply gasped with excitement at the idea. The human nodded, knocking all of the hot dogs onto Papyrus. Luckily, however, the hot dogs disappeared as they always seemed to do.  
"Wow, bro, the human really seems to like the idea," Sans remarked.  
"Of course they do, Sans!" Papyrus crowed. "I am the Great Papyrus; it would only follow that my ideas would live up to that title!"  
"Well, then, I guess that means that -"  
"Sans, don't," Papyrus interrupted.  
"I guess that means that you have tibia bone-a fide genius."  
"SAAAAAAAAAAAANS!" Papyrus cried.  
"Papyrus!" A voice called out from behind him. Even from where the rest of them were standing, her thundering footsteps could be heard loud and clear.  
"A-ah, Undyne!" Papyrus stuttered out.  
"There you are! I asked you to get some salt from the corner store in Snowdin 20 minutes ago!"  
"A-ah, yes."  
"Why do you not have salt from the corner store in Snowdin?"  
"Well, I got lost."  
Undyne facepalmed, sighing. "Let me get this straight."  
"Yes?"  
"When you walked out of the house - your _own_ house, mind you , instead of walking right and to the salt, you walked left for some reason."  
"Yes."  
"And then you walked out of Snowdin, completely through Waterfall, through part of Hotland, and to this hot dog stand?"  
"Mmmhm."  
"Without once thinking, 'Hmmm, maybe I'm going the wrong way'?"  
"Well, I'm a skeleton; I'm not necessarily known for my brain."  
Undyne simply groaned.  
"Oh, well!" Papyrus perked up again as if he had never walked through 2 lands while perpetually forgetting the salt a couple buildings from his house. "We can still salvage the spaghetti if we try!"  
A high-pitched whine permeated the air. Both Papyrus and Undyne looked at Frisk, who was staring back at them as well.  
"I think you're forgetting something," Sans reminded.  
"Oh, yeah. The contest," Papyrus completed.  
"Contest? What contest? Papyrus, what did you do?" Undyne asked, getting more irate by the question.  
"Oh, nothing," Papyrus chuckled nervously, "Just initiated a hot-dog-head-stacking contest with the human."  
"You what?!" Undyne cried. "Wait, what?" she repeated, now confused.  
"You know, where you stack hot-dogs on your head until they fall off?"  
"??????" Undyne said in response. She formed her hand into a fist, but simply sighed. "You know what? Fine." Frisk gasped hopefully. "The spaghetti's probably a lost cause anyway. You can stay here and do your... hot dog stacking... thing. For now, just come back long enough to get the spaghetti out of the pot - or at least, what's left of it. I just don't want that Annoying Dog getting to it before we do."  
"Yes! The Great Papyrus is always victorious!"  
"Come on, you!" Undyne growled, fed up with the skeleton's antics.  
As Undyne and Papyrus walked the other way, Frisk stared back at them with focused (albeit closed) eyes. Though they were gone now, they would come back, and when they did, the battle would truly begin.  
This fact filled Frisk with...  
DETERMINATION. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HHHHHHHHHHHHHH. That was the first fanfiction that I've written in a long time, as well as the first fanfiction I've written here. On that note, send your kudos and comment! Thanks for reading!


	2. Challenger 1 - Papyrus ft. Too Many Skeleton Puns

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welp, I apologize for the miniscule length of the previous chapter. Hopefully this one will partially make up for it! ^v^

Papyrus marched back to the hot-dog stand, radiating even more confidence than he usually did. As the volcanic dirt compressed and crunched under his cartoonishly huge boots, he wore a huge grin that plastered itself onto his face. Despite the skeleton always appearing to be grinning due to his facial structure and lack of lips or other skin, he seemed even more smiley than usual. But that was nothing compared to Undyne.  
"Hey, bro," Sans greeted. "What's up with Undyne?"  
And indeed, something was up with the fish warrior. Especially when juxtaposed with her previous demeanor, she was now joyful to a near-disturbing degree; her smile stretched from fin-ear-thing to fin-ear-thing and her yellow eyes were fixed directly on the human.  
"Oh, Undyne?" Papyrus asked rhetorically. "Well, when we got back home, she was telling me about how this whole contest was a bad idea and that it was a waste of time to even try. But then, I reminded her that I was fighting against the human and that, if she trained me and I won against them, I would be winning in her honor. Then she got this crazed look on her face and trained me for 20 whole minutes by stacking bowls of mushy spaghetti on my head before dragging me here by the arm!"  
"Oh, is that how it went? That's funny," Sans remarked.  
"Even if it was a bit frightening, yes, it was," Papyrus added.  
"I guess you could say it was -- "  
"Sans, don't."  
"You could say it was -- "  
"Sans, you've already made two skeleton puns today. I'm running out of patience."  
"You could say it was very _humerus._ " Instead of crying out, Papyrus simply sighed at his brother's japes.  
"Bro, you should have known this would happen."  
"I know, I know. At this point, I'm getting more and more fine with it."  
"Don't you mean you're getting more and more _spine_ with it?"  
"Sans, that pun was even worse than the last one. Please just stop this."  
"Fine, fine."  
Meanwhile, on the other side of the hot dog stand, Undyne approached Frisk as they sat on the ground, minding their own business.  
"Hey, kid." Undyne's sudden, loud words quickly caught the human's attention, their round face turning to face the fish-woman. "I know that you think that you're going to win this stupid hot-dog-head-stacking contest, because you stacked 29 on your head once and no other human was ever able to do that, let alone any monsters. But I'm here to tell you that you're wrong. Even though I've only trained Papyrus for 20 minutes, he has more potential in his pinkie finger than you do in your entire scrawny body!" Undyne slightly shoved Frisk back for emphasis; the fallen child only lent a stone-faced expression back to her. "Or do you think I'm wrong? Do you really think that you can beat m - Papyrus?" The fallen human nodded; Undyne sneered at that. "Of course you do." The fish-woman got up, staring menacingly down at Frisk. "We'll just see about that, you little twerp!" She turned and walked a couple paces away, then turned back to the human. "No, we won't, actually," she corrected herself. "You're definitely gonna lose!" After that, she actually ran away this time, cackling all the way. Frisk stared after her with slight confusion, but with anticipation for the future nonetheless.  
  
\----  
  
Papyrus and Frisk faced each other, the skeleton's adamant gaze meeting the human's closed eyes. Undyne and Sans too faced each other, even though Undyne's gaze was also fixed on Frisk and San's... well, Sans really wasn't gazing anywhere in particular. Undyne leaned over and whispered in Papyrus' non-existent ear; she was temporarily caught off guard by the smell of MTT-Brand Anime Powder, but persisted.  
"Papyrus, you better win."  
"Of course I'll win! I am the Great Papyr -" Undyne grabbed him by the shoulders and turned him to face her.  
"No, Papyrus. You don't understand. You _need_ to win this. This is one of the only chances I have to defeat that striped-shirted twerp."  
"You? But aren't I the one doing the hot dog stacking?"  
Undyne's crazed grin widened. "But you're fighting in my honor, right?"  
"W-well, I don't know if it could be considered fighting, bu -"  
"RIGHT?!"  
"Y-yes, Undyne!"  
"Damn right, you are! Now get out there and STACK! THOSE! HOT DOGS!"  
"Yes, Undyne!" Papyrus ran back to his spot in front of Frisk, and Undyne ran to a bucket of hot-dogs placed by Papyrus. Frisk and Sans were placed at those positions on the other side of the arena, focused and ready. A small crowd had gathered to watch the event unfold, and Muffet curiously turned her five eyes toward the scene, watching intently from the table next door. As Papyrus and Frisk locked gazes once more, the tension in the air seemed to sizzle and crackle.  
"Ready to get dunked on?" Sans asked Undyne, obviously confident in Frisk's abilities.  
"Not in a million years, bonehead," Undyne shot back.  
"Well, I guess that'll make you all the more shell-shocked when you lose," Sans replied coolly, winking an eye socket. The skeleton turned his attention away from Undyne and put his hands in the bucket of hot dogs. "Ready..."  
"Damn right!" Undyne yelled.  
"Set... Stack!" Sans declared, stacking the first hot dog on Frisk's small head. Undyne, narrowing her eyes, quickly started placing hot dogs on Papyrus' head as well, having 5 hot dogs on Papyrus' head by the time Frisk's head barely donned 3. Undyne's lead in number of hot dogs stacked only grew seemingly exponentially; soon, Papyrus' hot dog stack started to sway wildly on his head, but Undyne seemed not to notice.  
"Uh, Undyne?" Papyrus tried to point out the swaying hot dogs as he frantically tried to keep them all on, attempting to sway with them.  
"Ugh! Stop moving!" Undyne barked down to the skeleton, precariously perched on a ladder and trying to place another hot dog on the already unstable stack. "What happened to the 'Great Papyrus'?! Why is the 'Great Papyrus' ruining this for me?!"  
This only put more pressure on the skeleton below, who whimpered with panic and tried to stand still so she could put the hot dog on his head. With this sudden change of pace, however, the tower of hot dogs finally leaned past the point of no return.  
"Papyrus! What are you -- AAAH!" Undyne, in trying to reach the crumbling tower of hot dogs, crumbled with it, falling straight off the ladder and onto Papyrus, the hot dogs falling all around them.  
  
Undyne got up and shook her head, Papyrus' body underneath her. Her vision, once it stopped spinning, focused itself on Papyrus, whose bones quaked with fear beneath her.  
"PAPYRUS!" she shrieked, glaring into his empty eye sockets. "WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?! YOU SAID YOU WERE GOING TO WIN THIS FOR ME! **I TOLD YOU TO WIN!** "  
Papyrus couldn't speak. He didn't have time to. A scoff pierced the air before he could. Both Undyne and Papyrus slowly turned their heads to see Frisk, facing their head down and shaking it slowly.  
"And what are _you_ on about?" Undyne asked slightly more calmly, even though rage still bubbled and boiled beneath her scales. At this, Frisk looked up at the fish-woman, but their features were not streaked with triumph or joy, even though they had won. Rather, they seemed to be... stony? Somber?  
No.  
  
_They pitied her._  
"Oh, I see what's going on here," Undyne asked, her rage returning. "You're bragging. While you sit up there in the winner's throne, you look upon on my pitiful, wretched self wordlessly, practically pitying me to my very gills. You were so confident that you were going to win that, when you did, it was almost boring to you. And so you -- "  
"Nope." This time, it was Sans to interrupt her.  
"What?" Undyne growled back at the skeleton, whose eye sockets had fallen closed.  
"You see, it's almost funny," Sans began. "You bragged and swore up and down that he would win. You yelled at him for things that weren't his fault. For things that were _your_ fault. When it all came crashing down, he was the one on whom you released your rage. You pushed him so hard to succeed." Sans' eyes opened, the darkness of his eye sockets piercing holes through Undyne.  
_"But it never was his battle to you, was it?"_  
  
Undyne's eyes widened with realization as she stared through Sans.  
"A-ah, Undyne," Papyrus stammered, still underneath the hulking fish-woman. He felt his confidence slipping as he felt the emotions flowing through her. "I'm sorry that I couldn't win the conte -"  
"No," Undyne interrupted curtly. "He's right."  
"Huh?" Papyrus exclaimed.  
"He's right," Undyne repeated, her sins weighing heavier and heavier on her neck. "Because of my undying hatred for the human, I tried to beat them any way that I could. I felt like I _had_ to beat them at something, even if it was as worthless as this stupid hot dog competition. And so, I pressured you and pressured you because I felt like you were my only chance of winning; I felt like if you didn't win, I would have failed as well."  
"U-Undyne..."  
Undyne gritted her teeth defiantly. "But now, I realize that that was never the case. This competition was supposed to be yours. So now..." She stood up. "I'll make a competition that's only my own." Undyne looked down at Frisk. "Human. I know that I haven't been sportsmanlike throughout this contest. Even still, I challenge you to a hot-dog stacking duel -- and not one through Papyrus or anyone else, either. I want you to go up against me and me alone." Her eyes fell closed. "Whether you accept or reject is up to you. But just know that if you go on to stack against me..." Her yellow eyes flashed open, her sharp teeth showing themselves in an unfaltering grin. "I won't lose to you!"  
Frisk quickly nodded at that. Undyne looked at Sans, who had regained his white pupils. Sans simply gave Undyne a thumbs-up.  
"It's settled, then. Human. For the sake of my honor and dignity..." Undyne's eyes locked onto Frisk's closed ones, her composure unwavering. This would truly be _her_ fight.  
"I, UNDYNE, WILL STRIKE YOU DOWN!" 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you liked this chapter! Comment, kudos, and bookmarks as always please! Next time, CHALLENGER 2 - UNDYNE!


	3. Challenger 2 - Undyne ft. Monster Kid

The crowd buzzed and chattered around the arena. It seemed to grow by the minute; the tension between Undyne and Frisk was almost palpable, drawing monsters looking for a show in like a magnet. Some monsters, despite also wanting to watch the show, lined up to get their place in line to go up against Frisk. Sans soon had to make a list and keep writing in it by the second; within the craze, the skeleton soon saw a business opportunity.  
  
"10G! 10G for your very own chance to go up against the undefeated hot dog-stacking master, Frisk!" Sans yelled out to the crowd.  
"What do we get if we win?!" an audience member yelled out.  
Whoops. Sans hadn't thought of actual prizes. He never thought of anyone who actually won against Frisk. He had to think fast.  
"Free hot dogs for a year!" he yelled. While the obvious choice, the crowd wasn't exactly crazy over it; it was common knowledge that a hot "dog" really could be any hot animal, so people generally didn't trust them. "And a Spider Donut on the house!" That got people more excited; no one had ever actually _tried_ a Spider Donut, since they were horrendously expensive. However, this quick proposition caught Muffet's attention.  
"What?!" Muffet turned her head over to Sans, narrowing her eyes and wondering what he was planning.  
Sans sighed to himself; the business world was rough. "And Muffet gets 50% of the profits until I can pay back the cost of a Spider Donut!"  
Muffet motioned upwards with a slender thumb.  
"75%?" Sans asked.  
Muffet smirked, accepting the offer.  
"That lady drives a hard bargain," Sans muttered to himself. "Hey, Papyrus, can you take over the stand? I'm gonna go to Grillby's."  
"Take over the stand?! But who's gonna stack hot-dogs for... Undyne?" By the time Papyrus had finished his sentence, Sans had already left and gone to Grillby's.  
"Oh boy! Do you need someone to stack hot dogs for... for UNDYNE?" Papyrus couldn't find the source of the youthful squeak until he looked down, seeing a bright-eyed lizard-like child looking back up at him. The child, as it turned out, also had no arms.  
"Uh... Undyne?" Papyrus asked. Undyne turned over to look at both Papyrus and the reptilian child; the Monster Kid looked like they were going to faint. "Sans left me in charge of the ticket counter and the hot-dog stand. Can this Monster Kid stack for you instead?"  
Undyne quirked a crimson eyebrow. "Can this kid even STACK hot-dogs?" she asked, referencing their lack of arms.  
Monster Kid bounced in place at even being considered. Quickly, they ran over to the hot-dog bucket and stuck their face in it, gently grabbing a hot-dog in their mouth and showing to Undyne. It definitely wasn't one of the more sanitary options; Papyrus looked at Undyne with anticipation, knowing this fact.  
"You know what, kid? That's good enough for me. Get up here," Undyne said, smirking slightly at the lizard-child. Monster Kid bounced up and down with electric intensity, picking the handle of the bucket up in their mouth and running over near Undyne.  
"Now _you_ have a stacker, but what about Frisk? Sans was also Frisk's stacker..." Papyrus pondered.  
"My child!" Papyrus turned to see a goat-monster running towards Frisk, her lavender robes trailing behind her; Frisk seemed to recognize her, looking at her with wide eyes. The two embraced, the goat-monster kneeling down to reach Frisk.  
"My child!" The goat-monster repeated, panting and smiling. "I was so worried about you!" She held Frisk's face and looked into their eyes. "I was so afraid that you would have perished by now! I'm so glad you're alright!" Tears started to well in the monster's eyes as she buried her face in Frisk's shoulder. Undyne and Papyrus could barely do anything but stare in awe.  
"Your Majesty?" Undyne finally spoke, simply out of reflex.  
"Oh, I no longer hold my royal position," the monster spoke, standing up and looking at Undyne with misty eyes. "Call me Toriel."  
"Your Ma- ...Toriel." The words felt wrong in Papyrus' mouth, but he spoke them anyway. "You and the human know each other?" Frisk nodded, and Toriel also showed her affirmation.  
"What is this event?" Toriel asked, changing the subject. "And what is the purpose of these buckets of hot dogs?"  
"It's a hot-dog stacking contest!" Monster Kid explained cheerfully, interrupting Papyrus. "Two teams compete to see how many hot dogs they can stack on the head of a person from their team! If you can go the longest having hot dogs on your head, your team wins!"  
"And the human has won every match so far!" Papyrus added enthusiastically.  
"Papyrus, there's only been one match," Undyne reminded.  
"Well... yes," Papyrus agreed.  
"Is that so?" Toriel inquired. "In that case, I would like to stay and watch."  
"Well, the thing is -- " Papyrus began, interrupted again by Monster Kid.  
"Frisk doesn't have a stacker because theirs left!" Monster Kid explained anxiously.  
"In that case, I will be their, ahem, "stacker"," Toriel declared.  
"Your Ma- Toriel, that really isn't necessary!" Undyne exclaimed. "We can find someone else if you wish." Toriel simply smiled down on Frisk, who looked back up at her expectantly. She placed her large, furry hand on Frisk's head, messing with their hair a bit.  
"As I have said, I no longer hold a royal position," Toriel explained. "So there is no need to coddle me and prevent me from things deemed beneath me as if I was royalty."  
"...If you say so," Undyne conceded.  
With that, Undyne, Monster Kid, Frisk, Toriel, and Papyrus all went to their designated positions.  
"Is it really as simple as it sounds?" Toriel asked Frisk. The human placed a hot dog on their own head, nodding.  
"Okay, then. I will do my best," Toriel affirmed, smiling at the child. Frisk nodded again, smiling back at her.  
"You ready, kid?" Undyne asked.  
"Yeah! I'm not nervous at all!" Monster Kid cheered back.  
"Alright! Let's do this!" Undyne roared.  
Papyrus focused his gaze on the battle in front of him, narrowing his eye sockets.  
"Ready..."  
Undyne and Frisk held their positions, ready to show just how determined they really were.  
"Set..."  
Toriel's paw hovered over the bucket, and Monster Kid turned their face towards their own bucket, ready to pick to pick up the first hot dog.  
"STACK!"  
Monster Kid was as eager as ever, picking up a hot dog in their mouth and putting it on Undyne's head; they had to use the ladder right away, due to the size discrepancy between them and Undyne. Toriel was slightly less energetic, gently and carefully placing the first hot dog on Frisk's head.  
"Kid, be a little more careful," Undyne requested. "I know from personal experience that if you place the hot dogs too fast, they'll only get more unstable." Monster Kid nodded, going slightly more slowly, but still faster than Toriel.  
"How many hot dogs do we have on?" Undyne asked boisterously. Monster Kid momentarily stopped for a moment, counting.  
"10 so far, Miss Undyne!" Monster Kid called back.  
"Nice!" Undyne cheered, only encouraging Monster Kid and making them beam with pride. This caused them to forget Undyne's advice and fervently place more hot dogs on her head, making the stack sway wildly.  
"Whoah, kid - KID!" In an attempt to keep the hot dogs from swaying, she followed them, side stepping to her right at as quick of a pace as she could. The ground crackled beneath her boots and eventually ceased to exist as she stepped right off the cliff, letting go of the hot dog stack and falling to her doom.  
  
Monster Kid's look of pride and ecstasy quickly morphed into one of sheer terror as they saw Undyne's fall.  
"U-UNDYNE!" Monster Kid cried, running to the edge of the cliff. Everyone else followed, peering over the edge of the cliff with morbid curiosity. Undyne had landed on a ledge below, barely alive.  
"Undyne..." Monster Kid's tears flowed like rivers over their cheeks, falling to the ground as they hung their head in mourning. Their head rose again as they heard Undyne mumbling from below.  
"Undyne!" Monster Kid cried out for a third time.  
"It's nothing... Next time, listen when I tell you to be careful, okay?" Undyne weakly called from the ledge. Monster Kid couldn't believe it; gasps and murmurs erupted from the other members of the audience as well. The monster child meant to speak, but could only stop and gape at their idol.  
"It's nothing..." she muttered to herself. "No, only falling from this high, somehow I'm already... I'm already..." She closed her eyes tightly. "D-Damn it! Kid, just like that I... I've failed you." She gritted her teeth. "No." Her voice rose into a battle cry. "My body... It feels like it's splitting apart. Like any instant... I'll scatter into a million pieces. But... deep, deep in my soul, there's a burning feeling that I can't describe. A burning feeling that won't let me die. This isn't just about us, is it, human? If you get past me, you'll defeat them all, won't you? Everyone's hopes, everyone's dreams, vanquished in an instant. But I won't let you do that. Right now, everyone here... I can feel their hearts beating as one. I've said it before, and I'll say it again." Her crumbling body slowly fused itself back together; her determination rushed through her and kept her soul intact, morphing her mortal being into something more.  
"I, UNDYNE, WILL STRIKE YOU DOWN!"  
Undyne's soul faded to blue as she rose up to the cliff. Onlookers gasped as her feet graced the rocky ground once again, as if by a miracle. Her eyes, now black with white pupils, fixed onto a shocked human, narrowing with the same determination that refused to let her die.  
"Human. You... You..."  
  
**"YOU'RE GONNA HAVE TO TRY A LITTLE HARDER THAN THAT!"**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whooo, boy. Hope you guys liked this chapter! Thanks for reading! Next time, Frisk faces CHALLENGER 2.5 - UNDYNE THE UNDYING!


End file.
